Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to monitoring systems for solar and energy systems, and, more particularly, to a smart sensor device for a solar system, a system that incorporates the smart sensor device, and operational methods for gauging performance of, or simulating the output of, solar energy systems.
Discussion of Related Art
Referring to FIG. 1, traditional weather monitoring hardware systems for monitoring efficiency of solar systems experience limitations due to high cost, non-standardized installation and operations, and inconsistent performance calculations and methods. Traditional weather stations typically are large standalone structures 10 located at positions away from the solar array modules 12 being monitored and require a source of power and/or communications lines. Limitations of such weather stations include high cost, making them almost non-existent in residential and small commercial applications due to price factors, non-standardization, meaning that vendors install and configure these units in non-standardized ways, and lack of packaging that accounts for real-world conditions such as snow and dirt.